


Focus On Your Strengths

by MeganRosenberg



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Brotherhood, Cute, Developing Friendships, Friendship, Gen, Hurt Prompto Argentum, Male Friendship, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Injuries, POV Gladiolus Amicitia, Protective Gladiolus Amicitia, Training, budding friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:20:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28948824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeganRosenberg/pseuds/MeganRosenberg
Summary: Prompto accidentally sustains a minor head-injury while training for Crownsguard with Gladio, leading to Gladio feeling a mixture of annoyed and guilty and with the desire to help the younger boy figure out a better fighting style that better suits his strengths.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 50





	1. Chapter 1

xxxxxx

Chapter 1

xxxxxx

"This is really heavy." The blonde boy complained as he struggled to hold up the fake sword Gladio had given him to train with.

"Real swords are even heavier. If you're serious about training, you've gotta learn how to hold a sword, Prompto." Gladio grumbled. He'd helped a lot of the younger Crownsguard recruits train, and they were always so annoying, lazy, unskilled. Gladio wasn't sure why he was so often put in charge of training, because his patience for this immature, distracted, inept stuff was low. Maybe it was because he himself was so skilled. It made sense for the new recruits to learn from none other than the best, even if the best was rather irritated by it.

This one was Noct's friend. Barely out of high school, no prior training or experience fighting, but he was determined to do this, even though he seemed very ill-equipped for it. The kid was tiny - just about as tall as the prince, and skinny, easily distracted, and didn't seem capable of taking much of anything seriously for longer than fifteen seconds at a time. Prompto was in shape at least, but that was about it. Gladio knew the kid was a runner. He'd seen him jogging around the city. But he didn't lift weights, didn't wrestle or practice fencing. He was just a commoner who happened to make friends with the prince several years ago and now wanted to do this - perhaps to prove his loyalty? Gladio didn't know. He just knew the kid had a lot of work to do if he didn't want to get killed the first time he had to fight something real.

"I am serious about training." Prompto stuck his lower lip out in a pout as he grabbed onto the training weapon with both hands and hefted it up. His arms shook and he had an almost pained look on his face, but he held the weapon up anyway. It almost made Gladio proud of him for a moment - that he was fighting through the pain, trying to get better at this. But Gladio just wasn't sure he had it in him to ever excel at it. If he could barely hold the weapon up, how was he ever going to properly use it? It was going to take a lot of hard work...

"Then stop complaining and let's do this." Gladio stared, holding his own weapon up in front of himself with no difficulty whatsoever. It felt practically like nothing next to the metal swords he used when he wasn't training young, unskilled kids who he'd accidentally kill if he used a real weapon. "If you can't even hold a sword, you're never gonna make it, kid." Gladio warned.

"I can do this, Gladio..." Prompto breathed. "Just… maybe with a smaller sword. Not everybody's eight feet tall, man. This is hard."

Gladio rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Let's get this done so I can go home. I've got better shit to do than walk you through every tiny detail. You should know how to hold up a sword by now at the very least. That's not something I usually have to waste time teaching."

"Alright." Prompto looked down, his shoulders slumping as though he was disappointed. He stopped complaining at least, but his arms were still shaking as he held the weapon up. His eyebrows were still furrowed. He still looked like holding up the weapon was actually physically hurting him.

For a moment Gladio almost felt guilty for being as harsh as he just was. Maybe he shouldn't have let on just how much he wasn't enjoying trying to teach this kid. Maybe it was mean… But Prompto was being frustrating. Nobody said he had to join Crownsguard. He wasn't born into a position where it was expected of him. He had no duty to do it. Why he'd try to join with no fighting skills whatsoever was a mystery. Gladio didn't have to enjoy the fact that he was starting from scratch with this kid. If Prompto didn't like being treated like a problem, he could always try not being one.

"Alright. Eyes up." Gladio moved on. "Let's go over blocking. If we just get that under control for today, I'd consider it a good day as far as training is concerned."

Prompto nodded, staring back at Gladio with attentive eyes. Maybe he was ready to take this seriously after all. Maybe Gladio being kind of a jerk about it was what the boy needed to pay better attention and stop whining.

"So stand up straight, hold your sword with both hands. You always wanna be ready, and you don't ever wanna get cocky and start showing off. Treat every battle, even if it's something seemingly insignificant, as though it's your most dangerous foe yet. Even something small could catch you off-guard, get one good hit in when you're goofing off." Gladio reminded him. "You don't want to be the idiot killed by a sabertusk because you weren't paying attention."

Eyes still wide and attentive, Prompto nodded, tightening his grip on his weapon and dragging it further up in front of him.

"So, back to blocking. If your opponent is anywhere near you, even if they don't seem that threatening, you want to be ready to strike, and more importantly, ready to defend yourself." Gladio noted.

"Wouldn't it be more important to hit them though?" Prompto frowned. "I think I'd focus on offense before defense. You know, like hit 'em before they know you're there. Strike first, ask questions later. You can't win just by defending yourself… You gotta hit 'em sometime. It'd keep going on forever if you focus on defense first. The best defense is a good offense. Right?"

"But you can't hit them at all if they hit you first and you're passed out on the ground. Or dead." Gladio stared. "There's a time and place for stealth, but you need to be ready if that's not possible... and you need to be prepared in case your stealth plot doesn't go as planned. Something tells me you're the type who might trip and face-plant into the enemy you're trying to sneak up on. Defense first." He repeated.

"Right…" Prompto nodded, his eyes wide, almost like he was scared disagreeing with Gladio any more than he already had was going to end in him getting smacked. "Okay. Stealth is hard. I guess you're right." The younger boy breathed.

"No, you don't guess… I am right. I'm training you, Prompto. It's not a discussion or a debate. It's a lecture. I don't need your input right now. So listen and stop arguing about everything." Gladio ordered.

"I didn't mean-" Prompto shrunk down slightly, not finishing his thought. "Sorry…"

"Don't sweat it… Just-" Gladio hesitated, feeling like he was being too harsh again. Prompto was young, a little out of his element. He was kind of annoying, but he was harmless, naive, innocent. He wasn't trying to be a nuisance. He was only asking a question so he could better understand the training. It was easy for Gladio to forget that Prompto was new to all of this. He didn't grow up in the same environment that Gladio did. He still had so much to learn, and asking questions was his way of doing that.

"I'm sorry, Gladio." Prompto said again, glancing up toward Gladio for a moment before nervously looking away again. "You know more about this than I do. I get it. I'll trust your judgement."

"It's alright… You're allowed to ask questions… It's just time consuming… Not every question needs to be asked up front. Maybe save the questions until the end so some of 'em will answer themselves along the way." Gladio tried a more gentle voice, nodding toward Prompto's weapon. "So hold it up in front like you're ready to fight."

Prompto nodded and did as he was instructed. His arms were still shaking and he still had a nervous, almost pained look on his face. Surely the sword wasn't that heavy. Prompto was small, skinny, but not a little child. He could handle it...

"And when I raise mine back like I'm getting ready to swing it, you know you need to move yours up to block." Gladio went on. "It's an opportunity to hit them too if you're fast - to hit while their weapon isn't blocking, but that can be dangerous... For the purpose of this training, we're gonna block it. Any time you can anticipate your opponent's move, you can defend against it. It's always a good idea to plan your reaction. Swinging out wildly works sometimes, but it's reckless. Better to be mindful of every aspect of your surroundings, because it won't matter how strong you are if the enemy gets even one good hit in and knocks you out or stabs or bites you somewhere important."

"Okay." Prompto nodded, holding the weapon up. Gladio noticed the boy's arms still shook slightly and he grimaced, but he didn't complain again.

"We might have you do some weight-lifting too…" Gladio noted. It didn't seem like Prompto was trying to be dramatic here. He wasn't whining about the weapon being heavy. The thing just was heavy to him. He needed to tone up his muscles.

"I got it." Prompto breathed, tightening his grip on the wooden sword. "It's just something I'll get used to I guess, maybe when I train with it more. I liked it better when we were using foam." He laughed nervously.

"A real sword isn't going to feel like foam." Gladio frowned. "You need to train with props that are a more accurate representation of what the real thing will be like. And a real sword is even heavier than these." He reminded the boy. "You need to do some weight lifting."

"Hasn't anyone ever thought of making swords less heavy?" Prompto whined.

"Well, think about it. Would it hurt more to be hit with a brick or a pillow?" Gladio frowned.

"Yeah, I guess…" Prompto pouted.

"So I've got my sword held back. You can see I'm about to swing it down at you. So you need to be thinking about moving yours up to block it. As I'm swinging down, you move yours up in front. Try to anticipate where I'm aiming and block my hit. You can swing out at a certain angle and throw me off as I hit you, then go in for the kill." Gladio explained.

Prompto nodded.

"Got it?" Gladio asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Think so." Prompto nodded again.

"Alright. I'll move slower this first time. Ready?" Gladio asked.

Prompto swallowed and nodded again, staring with wide eyes up toward Gladio's sword.

Gladio swung the weapon down, much slower than he would have if he were training with anyone else, but still quick enough that it'd probably hurt if Prompto didn't block it. This kid was so not cut out for this.

With a startled little gasp, Prompto raised his weapon up, shrinking down, closing his eyes, and turning his face away in the same moment.

Gladio let his weapon connect with Prompto's, causing the younger man to stumble backward, almost falling to the ground before he caught himself, dropping his sword in the same moment and shaking his hand as though it was in pain.

"Ow! Shit! Sorry!" Prompto breathed, grabbing the weapon back up and scrambling backward. He still looked a little pained and he was holding the sword rather limply.

"Your wrist okay?" Gladio frowned. Hopefully he hadn't swung out hard enough to break Prompto's wrist when he blocked it wrong.

"It's alright." Prompto grimaced, holding his sword in his other hand for a moment and rotating his wrist slowly. "I think it's fine... Just kinda surprised me. You hit pretty hard... I didn't expect it to be so scary seeing that big sword swinging down at me." He laughed nervously. "I know that probably wasn't very good… Sorry…"

"Don't apologize… Just do better. I think you see some of what you did wrong." Gladio noted.

Prompto nodded. "Yeah… I really screwed that one up, huh?"

"Show me what you learned from that. That's what the training's for. That's why you're fighting me and not someone who would really hurt you, so you can make mistakes and learn. Explain what you're going to do differently next time." Gladio suggested.

"Um… Not fall over?" Prompto laughed nervously.

"And how are you going to manage that?" Gladio frowned. Did the kid seriously not know why he'd fallen? How could someone be so dense? So unaware of himself?

"Uh… Like… Maybe I'll try to really stand there… Like really firmly?" Prompto grimaced, narrowing his eyes like he was focusing hard. "Like really dig my feet in... you know... to the ground?"

Gladio exhaled and closed his eyes. He blinked them back open and stared at Prompto with raised eyebrows. "Keep your eyes open to start. Don't look away." Gladio noted. "I know getting swung at can be scary, but you've gotta pay attention. The last thing you wanna do while in a fight is close your eyes."

"Yeah." Prompto nodded, staring intently back. "That makes sense… It's like a natural instinct to kinda cower away… but I'll work on it."

"And your stance sucks." Gladio noted. "Your feet need to be about a shoulder's width apart so you're more grounded."

"Alright. I think I can do that." Prompto smiled, spacing his feet better and dragging his weapon back up. "I'm gonna get it right this time."

Gladio shook his head and fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Alright. Ready?"

"Yep." Prompto smiled.

Gladio raised his weapon back up, ready to do another slowed-down swing. But as he started swinging down toward the kid, as his momentum became enough that drawing back would be impossible, Prompto did the absolute dumbest thing someone in his position could.

As the six o'clock bell began to chime, Prompto turned his head toward the direction of the sound, moving his sword down instead of up, seemingly all but forgetting Gladio was in mid-swing, his fake-sword moving full-speed toward the younger man without much of anything in place to stop or slow it down.

Unfortunately for them both, Gladio had already started swinging, and though he wasn't swinging to kill - he'd deliberately held back - the weapon was still heavy, and it was still already headed straight for the younger man. Gladio had about half a second to try to stop the gesture, and it just wasn't going to happen.

"Hey, is th-" Prompto started, his words cut off when Gladio's training weapon connected, unfortunately hitting him right across the face.

With a pained grunt, Prompto was flung backward, landing on the ground with a small thud.

"God damn it." Gladio grumbled, laying his weapon down and heading toward the boy. Prompto was lucky Gladio wasn't using a real sword either, but the training swords were still heavy - for the purpose of getting their users ready for the real thing. Even if it wasn't a real sword, it still functioned about the same as a heavy tree branch. Getting hit across the face with anything heavy could reasonably inflict real damage.

Exhaling as he knelt down next to his little training partner, Gladio frowned. Prompto was lying on his back, his arms limply flung out as he'd landed. His eyes were closed and he had a pained look on his face, accompanied by a bleeding cut on his forehead, above his left eye.

"Prompto." Gladio grumbled, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder and shaking lightly. "You okay? Open your eyes. Wake up…" He grimaced. Hopefully he hadn't accidentally seriously injured the younger man. That was just what he fucking needed right now... This annoying little recruit seriously injured on his watch... People would probably think he did it on purpose to shut the kid up. Noct would be pissed.

Prompto didn't make any move to comply, to open his eyes, to give any sign that he wasn't out cold. There was no indication that he was even hearing Gladio's words. For a painfully long fifteen to twenty seconds, he simply laid there, completely still, completely silent.

Gladio exhaled a breath and looked around himself. No one else was still here. It was just him and Prompto. But Gladio had dealt with things like this before. He could handle this. As long as Prompto woke back up within the next minute, he knew what to do.

"Prompto!" Gladio grumbled, patting his hand lightly against Prompto's cheek.

With a small inhale and a nervous swallow, Gladio looked up and around the space again. At some point, if Prompto didn't wake up soon, Gladio was going to have to resign himself to calling for help. He didn't want to resort to that, but he also didn't want to be too proud to admit he needed help and let Prompto lay here hurt without help for longer than he had to. Gladio wanted to fix this himself, but if Prompto needed more complicated medical care, Gladio was going to have to swallow his pride and call for help - sooner rather than later.

"Come on, kid…" Gladio frowned, resting one hand on Prompto's chest and the other on the side of his face. He supposed he'd give it about twenty more seconds. If Prompto didn't wake up really damn soon, Gladio would have to call for help. "Open your eyes, Prompto…" He grumbled, patting his fingers gently over Prompto's ribs and staring nervously down at his closed eyes.

Finally, Prompto let out a shaky whimper along with a pained breath as his eyes fluttered open. He gritted his teeth in pain as he reached up toward his forehead with trembling fingers. "Ow…" He choked, sticking his lower lip out in a pout.

Gladio couldn't help a relieved exhale as he closed his eyes for a moment, resisting the urge to pull this little idiot up into a hug.

With his fingertips still up against his forehead, Prompto grabbed at Gladio's arm with his other hand. His fingers were shaking slightly and he was shrinking down, almost as though forgetting who was here with him, worried that some stranger might be holding onto him.

Gladio frowned, looking down into Prompto's eyes, trying to get a good read on whether or not he was actually okay. He looked kind of confused, like maybe he didn't know where he was or what had happened. Gladio exhaled again, focusing back on the task at hand, putting his hand on Prompto's shoulder and leaning down closer. "Prompto, you okay? Can you see alright?" Gladio asked.

Prompto blinked a few times, his unfocused eyes brimming with pained tears. He squeezed his eyes closed again and stuck his lip out in a pout.

"Prompto." Gladio said again, his voice stronger now. "Open your eyes. Look at me. Can you see?"

Prompto blinked again, frowning as he looked back up at the other man. "Damn, Gladio… Why'd you do that?" He pouted, shrinking back as though expecting Gladio to attack him.

"What?!" Gladio stared. "I didn't fucking do anything!" He growled.

Prompto swallowed, shrinking back and staring at Gladio with huge eyes. "Y-you did..." He disagreed. "I was just trying... You hit me really hard..." He whispered.

Gladio glared, feeling a mixture of annoyed and guilty. He didn't hit Prompto on purpose... and it was Prompto's own fault this happened. He wasn't paying attention when he should have been. "You got distracted by a fucking noise in the middle of the training, Prompto!" Gladio reminded him, finding it rather difficult to keep his voice below an angry scream. "While I was swinging! I didn't do this to you. You did this to yourself by not paying attention! You can't do shit like that!"

Prompto continued staring up at Gladio like he genuinely thought Gladio hurt him on purpose. He blinked a few times, looking a little confused, like maybe he was starting to remember how it actually happened.

"Remember? We were going over blocking? You were supposed to block the blow, but you looked away at the last second?" Gladio frowned. "Like an idiot." He added.

Touching the injury with his fingertips, Prompto grimaced and blinked a few more times. "Oh shit… Yeah… It was the six o'clock bell, wasn't it… That's when I was supposed to head out to meet Noct." He looked up toward Gladio with a small smile. "We're gonna beat his high score at the arcade. Well, he is. I'll watch."

Gladio took a calming breath before continuing his line of questioning. "Prompto… You realize you were knocked out for like half a minute, right?" He frowned, putting his hand on the boy's back as Prompto dragged himself up into a sitting position.

"Damn. I was?" Prompto frowned, looking down at his feet. "You don't think I have like a concussion or anything, do you?" He frowned, blinking as he stared at Gladio.

"Uh, yeah. You probably do." Gladio frowned. "I was holding back, but I expected you to at least attempt to block it… It connected right against your temple, kid… You're bleeding."

"I am?" Prompto pouted, reaching up again, then looking at the bit of blood on his fingertips. "Oh, damn… Look at that… I am…" He realized.

"Maybe you oughtta skip the arcade and drop by the hospital instead." Gladio suggested.

Prompto shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I hate hospitals. They're so cold."

Gladio leaned down closer, trying to get a good look at Prompto's eyes, to see if he was focusing better, to get a better read on if the injury was serious. He couldn't force a 19 year old to go to the hospital if the kid didn't want to. Prompto was technically an adult, even if he didn't act like it.

Prompto swallowed and shrunk down, but continued staring at Gladio, his eyes wide, almost fearful. "Gladio?" He whispered.

"Just looking at your eyes, to see if you look like you're concussed." Gladio explained, leaning back and frowning down at the boy. His eyes didn't look any different than usual - besides a bit extra fearful. But that didn't change the fact that he'd been on the ground knocked out for a very long thirty or forty seconds.

"Should we finish training then?" Prompto shrugged. "We were almost done, right? If I just get blocking down, then I can go meet Noct?"

Gladio shook his head. "We're done with training. I already knocked you fucking unconscious… We'll give it a rest… I think you should skip the arcade. Noct will understand. Just go home."

Prompto shook his head. "I'll just get an ice pack or something. I told Noct I'd be there. I can't just cancel on him last minute like this..."

"He'll understand. Go home, take it easy… Tell your parents what happened so they can keep an eye on you." Gladio suggested. "Maybe they can convince you to go to the hospital."

Prompto laughed and shook his head. "I'll just tell Noct. He can keep an eye on me."

"Noct is an irresponsible, aloof idiot. You need to tell an adult." Gladio frowned.

"Noct's an adult." Prompto pouted. "I'll be fine."

"Noct's as adult as you are. You've both got the mentality of a twelve year old." Gladio noted. "I'll just take you home."

Prompto exhaled. "Fine… But I can just walk. It's not that far."

"No." Gladio disagreed. "I'm going with you. To make sure you don't head straight to the arcade instead." He glared.

Prompto let out a small laugh. "Whatever you say, man…" He finally agreed, his shoulders slumping.

xxxxxx


	2. Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

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"Your parents gonna be home anytime soon?" Gladio wondered with an annoyed feeling in his chest as he looked through the various cabinets and the refrigerator in the kitchen at Prompto's house. There was hardly anything to eat here. Certainly not enough for a family.

"Um… Sometime soon I guess." Prompto shrugged, looking down at his hands clasped together on the kitchen table. "You can go if you want. I'll be alright."

Gladio shook his head. "I wanna make sure your parents know what happened before I leave. Anytime you get knocked out it's important for someone to keep an eye on you for a few hours after - even for a whole day or two if it was really rough. Concussions are no joke."

"Was this one really rough?" Prompto frowned, his eyes big as he stared up at Gladio.

The older man couldn't help but to smile. This kid was so fucking innocent it was almost painful. "No…" He shook his head. "It's wasn't really rough… I mean, losing consciousness at all sort of implies the blow was pretty hard, but you were out less than a minute, seem to be doing okay now… I'm like 90% sure you'll be fine. Just gotta watch out for that 10%." Gladio noted.

Prompto nodded. "Sorry I got distracted." He looked down.

"Don't be sorry for my sake. You got yourself hurt. Tell yourself you're sorry." Gladio frowned. He was annoyed with Prompto still though. The fact that he'd gotten hurt on Gladio's watch pissed him off. It made Gladio feel like maybe it wouldn't have happened if he'd been a better trainer, if he'd watched the subtle cues. He knew Prompto was easily distracted. He knew the kid was inexperienced and kind of scatter-brained. He should have been more careful.

"Well… I'm not mad at myself." Prompto breathed nervously. "You're mad at me… So…"

Gladio rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I'm not mad at you." He insisted. "I just need you to pay attention. Accidents happen. I'm not gonna hate you for screwing up now and then. You've just gotta be more careful. This was avoidable." He frowned, wondering again how at fault he was. Obviously it was Prompto who looked away, but Gladio was his trainer. He trained lots of younger recruits. He knew he was supposed to teach differently depending on the student. Prompto was young, new to this... and he had the attention span of a mouse. Maybe Gladio shouldn't have swung down so hard when he knew he was training with an inexperienced, distracted kid. "Anyway, I gotta call Noct and let him know you're not coming to the arcade."

Prompto stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "Not even like in an hour or two if I don't fall over dead or anything? I'm pretty sure playing video games won't kill me." He whined.

"No." Gladio refused, picking up his phone and dialing Noct's number, then walking out of the room so Prompto wouldn't eavesdrop.

"Hey, Gladio." Noctis answered his phone after a couple too many rings. He was supposed to have his phone on him at all times, ready to take a call and deal with any potential situation at a moment's notice. He was a crown prince after all... He was so irresponsible and lazy.

"Hey, Noct. I've got some bad news." Gladio spoke, making sure his tone wasn't too serious. Prompto wasn't dead or anything. He just wasn't going to be able to go to the arcade and act like a ten year old kid with the prince anymore - not tonight.

"We already did training this morning, so if you're calling to try to guilt me into more training, it's not gonna work." Noctis began complaining immediately. "I'm meeting up with Prompto. I already told him I would and I've gotta have some free time now and then, Gladio. I can't just work all the time. Give me a break. I don't have time to dedicate my whole existence to training every second I'm awake."

"Somebody's defensive." Gladio smirked. "Prompto's not going to be coming to the arcade, Noct."

"What?" Noctis's voice was disappointed. "Why? You're not his parent, Gladio… And he's not a prince. He doesn't have to work twenty four-seven just because he's joining Crownsguard. What, are you trying to punish him for something?"

"No." Gladio frowned. Why was he always the bad guy? "I'm not punishing him. I'm looking out for him. Accidentally hit him too hard and he might have a concussion. I've taken him home. He needs to take it easy for a little bit."

"You hit him?" Noct sounded shocked, almost disgusted.

"Not on purpose." Gladio exhaled, feeling guilty all over again. Did Noctis really think he'd do that? "We were training and he looked away as I was swinging toward him. He got distracted by the six o' clock bell."

"Oh. Is he okay?" Noctis asked.

"Yeah. He's fine. I'm just gonna wait with him until his parents get home." Gladio shrugged. "He'll be fine. You can play video games tomorrow."

"You're gonna be waiting for a while." Noctis noted.

"Why's that?" Gladio frowned.

"His parents are hardly ever home. I've been over there like a dozen or more times and have never met them. Not either one of 'em." Noctis explained. "I've never even seen 'em. Don't even know what they look like."

"Well, he said they'd be home in a little bit. Maybe you just never happened to be here at the right time." Gladio guessed.

"No. They're seriously hardly ever there, man. It's kinda sad." Noctis went on. "That's why he always wants to stay over with me, I think, because there's never anyone home at his house. I can come over. I'll hang out with him tonight and stay over until morning. I'll keep an eye on him." The prince suggested.

"No." Gladio frowned. Why hadn't Prompto just told him his parents were probably not going to come home at all? "I'll stay with him. You've got studying to do."

"I don't either." Noctis countered.

"Your grades say otherwise." Gladio noted. "I can stay with him."

"Well, be nice, Gladio." Noctis sounded like he was frowning.

"I will." Gladio frowned too. Why was Noctis saying that?

"He's kinda scared of you, man." Noctis went on, his tone more serious than Gladio would have preferred. "I know you're probably frustrated that he screwed up and got hurt, but he means well. He really looks up to you too. He's trying his best... So don't be mean."

"I won't." Gladio's tone softened. Prompto was scared of him? He didn't really know the younger man that well. He'd trained with him a few times before, and every now and then when Gladio met up with Noctis, the little blonde was with him. Come to think of it, Prompto did seem to kind of step behind Noctis or remain rather silent whenever Gladio was near.

"Call me if you change your mind. I can come over and take over for you." Noctis offered.

Gladio shook his head. "Nah. You two would just play video games all night. That's not good for a concussion, you know. I'll make sure he's alright. Talk to you later, Noct."

"Alright. See ya." Noctis hung up.

With an exhale, Gladio hung up his phone, then looked toward the door to the kitchen. He supposed he needed to soften his tone with Prompto - make sure he wasn't coming across as angry or otherwise threatening. Prompto screwed up, but he didn't need Gladio to be pissed at him. That wouldn't help.

It was also sad, like Noct noted, that the boy's parents probably weren't actually going to come home, or at the very least would be home so late Prompto would likely be asleep already. When Prompto told Gladio to go ahead and leave if he wanted, he wasn't expecting that his parents would be here soon to take care of him. He was expecting that he'd be on his own. For a young kid who seemed so accident-prone and needy to be so ready to accept that he was going to be left all alone while nursing a potential concussion was sad.

"Did he sound disappointed?" Prompto immediately spoke as soon as Gladio entered back into the kitchen. He looked so damn worried.

"He'll be alright." Gladio shrugged.

"Well… I mean, we had plans and maybe I should'a told him right after it happened. I've known for like half an hour that I wasn't gonna actually meet up with him, and I didn't tell him... It's really short notice to cancel plans… I hope he's not mad." Prompto bit his lower lip, squirming slightly in his chair. "Maybe I should text him… You told him it was because you hit me in the face, right and not-"

Gladio cleared his throat, interrupting the younger man. "You looked away while in the middle of a sword fight." He reminded him. "I didn't just hit you in the face. You better not tell Noct that."

"No… I mean, I know… I didn't mean…" Prompto shrunk down slightly in his chair, looking up with huge eyes. "Sorry… I didn't mean to imply that you did it on purpose or anything… but Noct knows I didn't really want to cancel, right? I don't want him to think I didn't want to come, because I did…"

"He understands it was an accident. He'll be okay to spend a night on his own for once." Gladio frowned, making his way over to the kitchen sink and grabbing a towel that had been thrown onto the counter. He turned on the water enough to dampen the towel.

"Hope he's free tomorrow. I'll text him." Prompto went on, sounding a little nervous, like maybe he honestly believed canceling plans one fucking time thanks to a head injury was going to be enough for Noct to ditch him forever.

"You got a first aid kit anywhere in this house?" Gladio wondered.

"What?" Prompto looked up from his phone.

"First aid kit." Gladio repeated. "Do you have one?"

"Um… I dunno. Why?" He frowned, looking at Gladio with furrowed brows and wide eyes.

"Never mind." Gladio rolled his eyes. The cut wasn't horrible. He could just get the blood cleaned up, probably wouldn't need a bandage, and Gladio doubted Prompto was going to let the older man give him a couple stitches - not that he really needed any. Cleaning the injury was going to be as good as it was going to get.

Gladio watched with a frown as Prompto's fingers typed at lightning speed across his phone, then the young man simply stared at the screen, likely awaiting a reply.

"He's not gonna be mad at you, kid." Gladio promised. "Aren't you like best friends?"

Prompto shrugged one shoulder and laughed nervously again. "I think so… I just wanna make sure he knows it's not personal or anything." He looked back at the phone, the corner of his mouth twitching toward a smile as he started typing again, angling the screen slightly, perhaps so Gladio couldn't see what he was typing.

"Talking about me?" Gladio guessed.

Prompto shook his head, turning the phone off, placing it face-down on the table and staring up at Gladio with big eyes. "Course not…" He frowned.

"Still feeling alright?" Gladio wondered, walking over to the table and pulling out a chair, lifting it up, taking a few steps, and sitting it down in front of the chair Prompto was sitting in.

The younger boy swallowed and shrunk down as Gladio sat himself in the chair in front of him. "What are you doing?" Prompto breathed, forcing a nervous laugh.

Gladio frowned. This kid was so fucking nervous. "May I?" Gladio raised his eyebrows as he lifted the wet cloth into view.

"Oh…" Prompto brought his fingertips up to his forehead. "Y-yeah… I guess…" He breathed. "Does it look bad? I forgot to even look…" The younger man looked around himself, starting to stand - maybe he was going to head out and look for a mirror.

"Doesn't look bad." Gladio promised, grabbing Prompto's arm and pulling him gently but firmly back into the chair. "Just some dried blood and a bruise. We'll get you cleaned up though."

"Okay…" Prompto breathed, swallowing nervously and staring back at Gladio like he wasn't sure what the older man was going to do. "Well… be careful though." He whispered.

Gladio nodded, frowning as he leaned in closer, wanting to make sure he honored that request. Prompto was already on-edge, scared of Gladio if what Noct said was true… Now was the time to prove to the kid that Gladio wasn't as intimidating as he looked - not to anyone who wasn't his enemy. Prompto didn't need to be scared of him.

"Maybe I don't deserve to be in Crownsguard." Prompto said out of nowhere, hissing a pained breath and flinching back when Gladio touched his injury with the cloth.

"Sorry." Gladio drew back slightly before moving back in, trying hard to be more careful this time. "Tell me if it hurts and I'll back off. I'll try to be careful."

"Um hm." Prompto nodded, reaching up and grabbing Gladio's forearm lightly, almost as though without thinking about what he was doing, then retracted his hand. "Sorry…" He looked away.

"Kid, if it makes you feel better, by all means. Hold onto my arm." Gladio shrugged. "But if I hurt you, just say so, and I'll stop."

"Alright." Prompto laughed breathlessly, timidly reaching up with his fingers and touching Gladio's forearm again. "Just… It kinda hurts… but keep going… I don't want crusty blood all over me all night."

Gladio nodded. "I'll be careful." He promised, slowly clearing crusted bits of blood away from the younger boy's forehead, being sure to work gently. "Why did you say that? About not deserving to be on Crownsguard?" Gladio wondered.

Prompto shrugged. "Just not good at it." He spoke, his voice small, his eyes looking down.

"You've hardly tried to get good at it, kid." Gladio noted.

"I've been trying for weeks… I can't fight. I suck at everything. Sword's too heavy. How am I ever gonna do it like you do? Your sword is bigger than your body practically. I bet it seriously weighs more than I do." Prompto frowned. "I wanna do the right thing, to help Noct…" He trailed off.

"You still can. Just keep training. You'll get better." Gladio assured him, clearing away the last of the blood, then leaning back slightly, putting his fingers under Prompto's chin and tilting his face up so he could see the injury more clearly. "Doesn't look too bad with the blood cleaned up." He noted.

"I just don't think I'm cut out for fighting. Not like you." Prompto tried to look down, but Gladio kept his hand under his chin. He looked down with just his eyes instead.

"No. Look at me, Prompto." Gladio frowned, waiting a moment until the younger man obeyed. "You don't have to fight like me. You can find your own strengths. There's more ways to fight than with a massive sword. That works for me. It doesn't have to work the same for you. We can try daggers, a bow, a gun… Are you better with long-ranged stuff? Can you aim?"

"I dunno." Prompto shrugged. "I haven't really tried."

"Well, we'll try it. You're a smart kid, Prompto. Resourceful, stronger than you look, in your own way. I think maybe a lot of people underestimate you, and I don't wanna be one of those people." Gladio noted.

Prompto laughed softly. "You really think so?" He wondered, looking up with wide, hopeful eyes.

Gladio looked back, offering a sincere smile. "Sure." He nodded, clapping Prompto lightly on his shoulder. "There's one thing that's important to that role, that not everyone remembers. The most important thing. And it's not brute strength."

"What is it?" Prompto wondered, furrowing his brows. "Speed? I am kinda fast…"

Gladio laughed. "That… and heart. Loyalty… None of it matters without that, and you have it. Your heart's in this. You love Noct so much. You're loyal, you care, you'd do anything for him. That's something you can't fake - actually caring - not just doing a job."

Prompto smiled, suddenly and without warning reaching out and wrapping his arms around Gladio's shoulders and back.

"Oh…" Gladio froze for a moment, then, then moved his arms up and hugged the kid back.

"Thanks, Gladio." Prompto whispered.

"No problem." Gladio responded, allowing the hug to continue for the moment, as Prompto seemed to be in no hurry to pull away. It occurred to him then that maybe Prompto didn't get hugged often. Maybe he didn't get hugged ever, if his parents weren't really involved with him, if they were hardly ever home, and he really had no other friends than Noctis…

"Wish I had friends like you guys." Prompto spoke in a small voice

Gladio pulled back out of the embrace, looking down at the boy with a frown. "Like who?"

"Like you. Ignis. Noct…" Prompto shrugged. "You all seem to know each other so well. You have each other's backs. It'd be cool to have a group of people you know you could really count on."

"Well, you're already friends with Noct, and I'll be your friend." Gladio laughed. "Sure Ignis will too. You've got a loyalty to the prince, and that's the most important thing to me too, and to Iggy... so we've already established we've got something big in common."

"Thanks." Prompto laughed nervously. "But you don't have to. I know I'm annoying and I can be a lot to-"

"Don't do that." Gladio frowned. "You're a good kid, Prompto. You don't have to be so unsure of yourself all the time."

"I don't wanna try to force my way into your friendship." Prompto breathed. "I mean, thanks for hanging out with me tonight and making sure I don't die from the head injury and everything. You don't gotta let me be your friend… Maybe that was awkward to ask-"

"Prompto." Gladio cut in. "Calm down. Just take a breath, kid." He laughed slightly. "I'm sitting in your kitchen right now. I've been training with you every week, walked you home, cleaned blood off your face… Maybe we're already friends."

Prompto's eyes brightened as he let out a short laugh. "Really?"

Gladio nodded. Prompto seemed to really need some loyal people in his life. His family didn't seem supportive, but perhaps he could make his own family - starting with Noctis, then slowly but surely pulling in more people. Gladio was already starting to feel a strange sort of protectiveness toward the boy. A want to help him train up, to be what he wanted to be. He wanted Prompto to succeed.

"I'll tell you what…" Gladio started. "Let's keep up with the training, up it to twice a week - just me and you… We'll try out other weapons, focus on your strengths instead of trying to mold you to fit mine…"

A smile spread across Prompto's face as he nodded in agreement.

"But you've gotta listen to my suggestions. I'm all for finding what you're good at and building on it, but listen to me while we train. I don't want you knocked out on the ground again." Gladio frowned. "Didn't like that."

"Me neither." Prompto laughed.

"I think we'll get you there, kid. You won't fight exactly like I do, or how Iggy does… but that's alright. We'll get you your own style." Gladio promised.

"Thanks, Gladio." Prompto smiled, leaning in for another hug. "For all of this." He added. "Feels nice for someone to care, you know?"

"Yeah." Gladio nodded. "You deserve it."

And Prompto really did. He was a sweet kid. He deserved to have people around who cared about him. Gladio was more than happy to be one of those people.

xxxxxx

The End

xxxxxx


End file.
